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trouble with my second hard drive.. urgently Help needed

tenzi

Posted 24 April 2011 - 06:23 AM

tenzi

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Member

70 posts

hi all ...
i tried to reinstall the windows 7 on my hard disk but it won't find the drive to install the window.Having no clue, i thought i might be able to format it and can reinstall , if i put it in my other desktop(gateway desktop) which run xp pro sp3..set the win7 HD to slave and run the gateway desktop.. to my dismay gateway won't find my win7 hd. either in bios or in storage-Disk Management..shows only the primary hd(gateway hd) + the 2 cd rom..
Can anyone guide me through what i am doing wrong or if i am missing any steps in between....
urgently need ur help
thnks everyone

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Alzeimer

Posted 24 April 2011 - 07:46 AM

I am asking because a SATA HD does not usually need to be set as slave but you set as the primary SATA HD through the bios.

Does your HD show in the bios on the PC you want to install your windows 7

In your Gateway you say you put your HD as a slave, did you mean the jumpers if a PATA drive. If a PATA HD it might be the combination of the jumpers that are wrong, you have single only, master\slave or cable select.

If both PC BIOS cannot see your HD then it might mean your HD is damage.

Why did you need to reinstall windows 7, was it virus related or an other problem.

You might try to download the diagnostic program of you HD and burn it on a cd and boot from it to see if it can detect your HD.

happyrock

Posted 24 April 2011 - 08:26 AM

tenzi

Posted 24 April 2011 - 06:29 PM

tenzi

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Topic Starter

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70 posts

hi there,
thanks for quick response.. well, i need to reinstall cuz we moved to a new place..it was working fine at first but then all of sudden it went blank...so i tried to reinstall and while doing it i guess i delete the whole partition .. after that i won't see the c: drive at all to install..

As of my HD not sure if its sata or (PATA)ide its seagate barracuda 7200.7 Model ST3160021A.. The gateway HD Maxtor D740S-6L( its a [bleep] old computer like 7/8 yrs old )

tenzi

Posted 24 April 2011 - 08:26 PM

tenzi

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Topic Starter

Member

70 posts

i don't see anything that say HD in bios except that there is option called hard drive/ide adapter and both of them are on disable .. i tried restarting the computer with enabled but don't see any changes..
oahh yeah, i tried with my xp installation on the same hd.. right where u see the folder option for installation .. i see like there are four rows but all them with no drive letter and it seems like these are partition but nothing there..
thanks

Alzeimer

Posted 25 April 2011 - 07:33 AM

Alzeimer

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1,331 posts

i don't see anything that say HD in bios except that there is option called hard drive/ide adapter and both of them are on disable .. i tried restarting the computer with enabled but don't see any changes.

Usually you would see if your BIOS recognizes your HD on the the main menu page, it usually shows your Primary IDE Master\Slave where you see your HD and Seconadary IDE Master\Slave on the secondary it should show you your CD\DVD drives. On other BIOS you might have to go to the advance menu to see your IDE configuration.

For your information your Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3160021A is a PATA (IDE) HD and here is the jumpers configuration for it, i would suggest your try the cable select fisrt making sure to set your other HD to cable select also. Just in case you did not know in cable select the master HD should always be connected to the end connector of your IDE cable and the slave to the middle connector.

thanks for quick response.. well, i need to reinstall cuz we moved to a new place..it was working fine at first but then all of sudden it went blank...so i tried to reinstall and while doing it i guess i delete the whole partition .. after that i won't see the c: drive at all to install.. oahh yeah, i tried with my xp installation on the same hd.. right where u see the folder option for installation .. i see like there are four rows but all them with no drive letter and it seems like these are partition but nothing there..

You probably deleted the partition (if 4 rows you proabable had 4 partitions) as you stated and a deleted partition does not have a drive letter assign to it, you need to to highlight the unformated partitions and choose either delete or create partition (you can keep the size as is or change it to your wishes) after you create it a drive letter should be assign to it (usually C: if not already assigned) or you can dlete all the four unnasign rows until you see only one row and then create your new partition.

If you were able to see the HD in the XP setup (with the 4 rows) it means your HD is detected. Always make sure the BIOS detects your HD first if the BIOS cannot see it the Windows installation setup will not see it either.

If you cannot find any of the information in your BIOS please supply your Computer Model number and motherboard model (usually written on the motherboard itself either between the PCI slots or near the memory banks slots)

happyrock

Posted 25 April 2011 - 07:41 AM

that drive is a PATA ...(SATA drives don't have those)try formatting the drive first then reinstall windows...lowdown here...and hereWhen you format hard drive, the operating system erases all bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure all sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors, and creates internal address tables that it later uses to locate information.

tenzi

Posted 25 April 2011 - 12:08 PM

tenzi

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Topic Starter

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70 posts

hey..
well i tried putting both in cable select and still not working and it don't show up in bios also .. i can see only the maxtor and cd primary/slave .. i had ide slave on auto;it won't show up any any hd.. seems like my hd got damaged or somthing...anyways guys, thnks.. i would probably head to bestbuy and get a new hd..my finals comin up soon and i need the computer running ..
really appreciate your time and suggestion.. if i were able to make it .. will surly let you guys knows
thnks once again..